Weekly cattle & sheep market wrap - 13 March 2025

Key points

Prices for week ending 8 March

• Prime cattle prices showed renewed strength, as supply slowed. The overall steer price grew by 13p to average 655p/kg.
• Cow prices meanwhile appear to be plateauing, with the overall average price at 486p/kg. Are we reaching the peak?
• Deadweight lamb prices held relatively stable, as numbers continued to rise.

Cattle

GB deadweight cattle prices moved up again in the week ending 8 March, as supply slowed. Both the overall steer and heifer measures grew by 13p from the previous week to average 655p/kg and 652p/kg, respectively. Steers achieving R4L specification averaged 667p/kg (up 14p on the week), while R4L heifers averaged 663p/kg, up 12p on the week. Meanwhile, the overall young bull price rose by nearly 11p to average 634p/kg.

Deadweight cow prices showed more muted growth, with the overall average price up 1p from the previous week to 486p/kg. This marks the third consecutive week of slowed price growth, begging the question of whether the ceiling has been reached for cow prices, up £1.38/kg versus this time last year.

GB prime cattle slaughter plateaued in the week ending 8 March, with estimated kill at 35,900 head, stable from the week before. An increase in heifer kill outweighed reductions in steers. Meanwhile, cow slaughter fell further, down 700 head to an estimated 9,100 animals.

Beef demand is reportedly strong at present. Indeed, latest retail figures show annual gains in volume sales, contributing to spend growth over the past 12-week period. More recent data shows mince, stewing and burgers & grills are in particular growth, while the roasting category is showing annual losses.

Sheep

For the week ending 8 March, the GB deadweight old season lamb SQQ averaged 739p/kg, up 1p from the week before. This put the measure 5p below where it was at the same point a year ago, the first time the measure has been lower year-on-year since July 2023.

However, at this point a year ago prices were rallying, driven by a combination of supply constraints, export growth and proximity of Ramadan and Easter pushing demand. Continued tight supply and strong demand through the back end of 2024 meant the SQQ started 2025 significantly above its position the year previous (+90p).

The measure has moved largely sideways since the start of the year, with lower supply balanced by weaker domestic demand. Prices from Rungis wholesale market have suggested a rather balanced export market picture overall, although prices appear to have picked up into March. We await official export figures for January.

Estimated clean sheep slaughter rose further to total 236,200 head for the week, up 3,300 head from the week before. This was 4% above estimated kill for the same week a year ago.